Punjab Kings’ Collapse Sparks Ponting-Iyer Exchange in Dressing Room

Punjab Kings’ head coach Ricky Ponting seemed frustrated after the team crumbled over RCB’s bowling attack. Ponting was caught on camera having an intense conversation with Shreyas Iyer after the latter’s dismissal.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s bowler had a strong start in Qualifier 1 against PBKS on Thursday. Asked to bat first, Punjab struggled and lost four wickets in the powerplay. Among the top five batters, only Prabhsimran Singh reached double digits.

Ponting-Iyer Dressing Room Moment

Skipper Shreyas Iyer, who has been in great form this season, also fell victim to RCB’s bowling tactics. He was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood, who rejoined the team ahead of this match, for just 2 runs off 3 balls.

Hazlewood bowled outside off stump on a good length, and the ball bounced more than expected. Iyer went for a big shot but got an outside edge and was caught by Jitesh Sharma. This was the fourth time Hazlewood has dismissed Iyer in T20s, with Iyer scoring only 9 runs off 20 balls against him in five innings.

The dismissal angered Sunil Gavaskar, who said, “Not a good shot at all. A nothing shot.” Moments later, PBKS’ head coach Ricky Ponting approached Iyer in the dressing room, looking visibly upset. The two then engaged in an intense chat over the team’s collapse.

RCB’s Bowling Crumbles PBKS

PBKS have done incredibly well this season, ending the league stage at to of the points table. On top of that, they had the advantage of playing at home on Thursday. However, RCB was prepared as they had already defeated Punjab earlier in April.

RCB’s pace attack, led by Josh Hazlewood (3/21), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/17), and Yash Dayal (2/26), made full use of the pitch conditions. After that, leg-spinner Suyash Sharma (3/17) added to Punjab’s troubles with an impressive spell.

Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Instagram